I might be looking for a unicorn here.

We have a large urban community garden. We take in a lot of leaves from local parks, and our primary use is to shred leaves into tiny pieces for composting, but we also don't have easy access to power. I'd also love it if we could put general compost into it to reduce it's size before adding to the heap. We can take in a LOT of kitchen scraps from hundreds of households and it cycles drastically faster if it's chopped first.

So I want something that can consistently shred leaves, but will also do a job on orange rind, kale stalks, rotten potatoes, etc. I'm looking for a gas powered machine or electric that we can use off a small generator.

We can get various electric leaf shredders that seem to have great reduction rates and durability http://www.homedepot.com/p/DuroStar-14-Amp-Electric-Chipper-Shredder-with-1-25-Diameter-Feed-ES1600/203900058?MERCH=REC-_-PIPHorizontal1_rr-_-202507872-_-203900058-_-N I like that for the steel blades and higher amperage. However the reviews aren't stellar, and I don't really know if it will do well with non-leaf material.

The jump from electric to gas seems pretty steep, with this being the least expensive model I can see that might do the job. http://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/earthquake-212cc-chipper-shredder?a=1916805&pm2d=CSE-SPG-15-PLA

This is not a small amount of material. We can cycle through currently about 12 cubic yards a month and expect that to grow to about 21 cubic yards per month this year. In community garden terms call that about 6 hours of continous use every 2 weeks with some intermittent usage too.

I'm looking for make/model or build-your-own recommendations in the sub $600 range. Thanks!

Thanks all.

edit: Found a used Mighty Mac on CL - thought it was out of my price range, but I think we did good with it.